Many UA alums call Istanbul, Turkey, home

University of Alabama EMBA students, class of 2013, with former UA men's basketball starter and current Galatasaray Istanbul professional basketball player Erwin Dudley (third row, far right). The students and Dudley attended a UA alumni event on Wednesday, February 27, 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey. (UA EMBA)

Mustafa Bayraktar, who graduated from UA with a degree in finance, and his wife threw a large dinner party for the dean of UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce Michael Hardin; alums; faculty; staff; and the current EMBA students.

Other alumni included businessman Michael S. Baldwin. Baldwin is a native of Demopolis, and has called Turkey home for decades.

Also in attendance was former UA men’s basketball starter, current EuroLeague professional basketball player and Uniontown native Erwin Dudley. Dudley, who plays for the Galatasaray Istanbul team, attended the dinner with his wife. Tamara Croom Dudley is a Tuscaloosa native and also a UA alum.

Bayraktar is the chairman and CEO of Istanbul-based Bayraktar Group, which has holdings in real estate development and the automotive industry. He hosted the group in the event space of his company’s headquarters overlooking the Bosphorous.

To read more about the UA EMBA students' adventures in Istanbul, go here.